Patients are asking physicians about an article on the front page of the June 15th New York Times, in which some prostate cancer experts were quoted as suggesting that men 55 and older might be well advised to take finasteride (Proscar, and others) to prevent prostate cancer.

Health care professionals may be asked about lowvoltage electronic devices now being used to diagnose and/or treat a number of health problems. Most are galvanometers that measure skin resistance to an electric current. The FDA classifies "devices that use resistance measurements to diagnose and treat various diseases" as Class III devices that require FDA approval prior to marketing. None of the devices reviewed here has such approval.

The FDA has approved the subcutaneously injected interleukin (IL)-4 receptor alpha antagonist dupilumab (Dupixent – Sanofi/Regeneron) for add-on maintenance treatment of adults with inadequately controlled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and an eosinophilic phenotype. Dupilumab is the first biologic drug to be approved in the US for this indication. It has been available for years for treatment of asthma, atopic dermatitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, eosinophilic esophagitis, and prurigo nodularis.

The FDA has approved the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor alogliptin (Nesina – Takeda) for treatment of type 2 diabetes. In addition to the single-ingredient product, the FDA also approved fixed-dose combinations of alogliptin/metformin (Kazano) and alogliptin/pioglitazone (Oseni) for the same indication. Alogliptin is the fourth DPP-4 inhibitor to become available in the US. The other three – saxagliptin (Onglyza), sitagliptin (Januvia), and linagliptin (Tradjenta) – are also available in fixed-dose combinations with metformin.

The FDA has approved perfluorohexyloctane ophthalmic solution (Miebo – Bausch+Lomb) for treatment of dry eye disease. Available only by prescription, Miebo is the first ophthalmic product to be approved in the US that specifically targets tear evaporation caused by meibomian gland dysfunction. An ophthalmic solution with a similar name, Meibo Tears (Vista), which contains 0.6% propylene glycol, is available over the counter for dry eye relief.

The FDA has approved an oral suspension formulation of nitisinone (Orfadin – Sobi) for treatment of hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT-1). Orfadin has been available in a capsule formulation in Canada since 1994 and in the US since 2002.HT-1 is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder (estimated birth prevalence: 1:100,000) caused by mutations in the gene responsible for formation of fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH), which catalyzes the last step in tyrosine metabolism. FAH deficiency results in accumulation of upstream toxic metabolites, causing liver and kidney failure and developmental...

In our recent article on Lipid-Lowering Drugs,1 we said that statins can reduce the risk of first cardiovascular events and death (primary prevention) in patients at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events in patients at lower risk for CVD. Now the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new recommendations on the appropriate use of statins for primary prevention of CVD.2The USPSTF states that clinicians should periodically screen all persons 40-75 years old for cardiovascular risk...

The FDA has required the addition of information about an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma [BCC] and squamous cell carcinoma [SCC]) to the labels of products containing the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.

On April 13, 2021, the FDA and CDC advised suspending use of the Johnson & Johnson adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine while the agencies investigate 6 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and thrombocytopenia that occurred following administration of the vaccine. In an April 14 emergency meeting, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended continuing the suspension until more data become available. About 7 million people in the US have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The FDA has approved onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi (Zolgensma – Avexis), an adeno-associated virus vector-based gene therapy, for one-time IV treatment of children <2 years old who have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. It is the first gene therapy and the second drug to be approved in the US for SMA; nusinersen (Spinraza) was approved in 2016.